Helping a young person with self-abuse with a hug

According to a report by the Psychological Research Organization UK (TCTLHAQ), in a class of 20 students, up to 4 students show signs of self-harm syndrome.

According to the American Psychological Union, the number of young people with self-abuse syndrome is on the rise worldwide. The most common manifestations can be mentioned as using sharp objects such as knives and scissors to cut yourself; or set themselves on fire, cut their own hair, or hurt themselves on purpose. Besides, they have no desire to heal the wound.

According to the statistics of the TCTLHAQ, the most common self-harm behaviors are cutting and slashing, accounting for 50%. Between 1990 and 2015, 17% of 12-18 year olds were more likely to injure themselves on at least one part of their body.

Based on research, girls are more likely to self-harm than boys. The average age of this syndrome is 13 years old. Young people often mistreat themselves in one or two fixed ways, most of which are “loyal” to cutting themselves.

A 2015 report showed that 12.1% of adults showed signs of self-harm at least once in their lifetime.

From 2009 to 2015, the rate of women suffering from this psychological syndrome increased by 50% compared to before.

Quickly finding the cause of self-abuse syndrome is an urgent issue and it is the responsibility of the education industry to teach students how to overcome pressure.

People most sensitive to self-abuse syndrome

This mental illness has many causes, such as deadlocks in daily life or friction with friends, being teased, studying pressure or using stimulants…

According to MFP, the LGBT community and people with anxiety disorders are susceptible to this psychological illness.

According to Norbert Hansli, a Swiss psychologist who has authored several books on self-harm, it is difficult to distinguish between an anxiety disorder and self-harm.

For anxiety disorders, the manifestation is limited to nail biting, hair pulling, or unintentional scratching of skin. But when it is done on purpose and causes wounds on the body, it will fall into the second case.

According to Hansli, 30 years ago, mental illness was not as common as it is today. Therefore, counseling centers are also very few, but now, he said, the number of people with this syndrome is much higher than before.

Most people with self-abuse syndrome find unhealthy ways to relieve stress. They feel comfortable hurting themselves, no longer aware of the physical pain. If not treated in time, self-harm will gradually become common and become a habit among young people, which will seriously affect social problems.

Heal with just a hug

According to a survey conducted by Hansli and his colleague Tanja Roma, a psychologist working at a Swiss public school, people with self-harm syndrome are often approachable, they are ready to talk and get to know each other. with other people.

However, when talking, the first thing according to psychologists is to prepare mentally and choose the right time. Especially as friends, many people will tend to give advice or subjective treatments to their friends. But he advises it is best to take them to psychologists and professional and methodical treatments.

One student said that although she was quite open in talking about her psychological instability, she received only empty words explaining the harm and consequences of this disease. She considers those words useless, even making matters worse.

Instead, people with the syndrome prefer to talk and ask questions about their daily lives, rather than talk about their psychological problems with a look of pity. On the contrary, pitying is also counterproductive, bringing bad results, will remind them of their illness. From there, will tend to hurt yourself more. Sometimes all it takes is a hug to soothe them and they’ll always listen to advice, as long as the other person genuinely wants to communicate and connect with them.

The responsibility of the school in psychological education for students

A 16-year-old female student said that she is really worried about the excessive and somewhat negative reactions of some parents to issues surrounding youth self-harm, which is even worse. increase their children’s desires for self-harm.

According to experts, the importance of education in providing knowledge to help adolescents become aware of the disease so that they know how to treat themselves as early as possible will be beneficial. Therefore, schools in Switzerland have created training sessions for their teachers to educate students on how to overcome pressure and learn to control their own psychology while in school.

However, the results did not meet the initial expectations, through a survey on Social Network Instagram, only 13 out of 70 students surveyed learned about anxiety management. But the quality of those lessons doesn’t add much value to them either.

The majority of students participating in the survey are from private institutions or from schools where Hansli has associated and applied psychological education programs for students. Many of these schools have only started to offer programs in recent years, so a large number of students aged 16-17 when asked about knowledge related to how to manage pressure have no information. believe.

From the above alarming numbers, it can be seen that, at present, the number of adolescents in need of treatment for psychological problems is increasing sharply. Therefore, according to him, the education sector needs to strengthen its role to help young people deal with negative psychological illnesses.